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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has vowed to aggressively pursue Chinese organised crime syndicates operating scam compounds across Southeast Asia, warning that “geographical borders will not protect criminals” who target American victims.
“We know where you are and we are coming for you,” Deputy Assistant Director Scott Schelble said during a virtual press briefing hosted by the US State Department’s Asia Pacific Media Hub on 24 February.
Schelble spoke after official travel to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, where he met senior law enforcement officials and observed what he described as the scale of transnational fraud networks operating in the region.
The compounds, he said, are not isolated operations but “entire facilities dedicated to fraud on an industrial scale,” underscoring what US authorities view as the organised and systematised nature of the threat.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), more than 80,000 complaints were filed in 2025 linked to online fraud schemes, with reported losses exceeding US$2.9 billion. Schelble described the figures as “staggering,” reflecting what he called a global criminal enterprise.
“These are not small or isolated crimes,” he said, characterising the networks as “sophisticated, well-resourced criminal enterprises” that exploit technology, vulnerable individuals and jurisdictional gaps to generate enormous profits.
He also linked the scam centres to human trafficking and forced labour, saying the activity is “no longer just cybercrime. It’s organised crime. It involves human trafficking, money laundering, and corruption all wrapped into one”. Victims include Americans who lose life savings, as well as trafficked individuals allegedly coerced into carrying out online fraud.
While authorities in Cambodia and Thailand have intensified crackdowns in recent years, Schelble cautioned that enforcement pressure in one location often leads syndicates to relocate. “This is not a Cambodian problem… not a Vietnamese problem or a Thai problem. This is regional,” he said, stressing that no single country can address the issue alone.
The FBI is working alongside the Royal Thai Police, Cambodian National Police and Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security in joint task force settings. Schelble said Washington’s strategy focuses on disrupting criminal networks and dismantling the financial infrastructure underpinning them.
“The fight is far from over,” he said, signalling sustained US engagement in Southeast Asia’s battle against transnational scam operations.
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